October is National Dental Hygiene Month and this year the American Dental Hygienist’s Association (ADHA) is preparing for various events during the month long celebration as is Mrs. Beth Arcury, district-wide dental hygienist for the Northampton Area School District. She has partnered with Kim Capers, outreach coordinator from Capital Blue Cross in the Allentown office, who has donated dental books entitled “Say AHH! The Teeth Book” to each first and second grade classroom in the Northampton Area School District. Kim has also donated dental coloring books and toothbrushes to be distributed during Mrs. Arcury’s classroom visits.

According to the ADHA, the first week of October will be Dental Hygienist Appreciation Week, followed by two weeks of community services and the last week will be Take a Member to Lunch Day. This year the ADHA new theme will be ”Keep them healthy. Keep them clean”, and their objective is to increase public awareness of the importance of preventive services in maintaining good oral hygiene and educate the entire family on the situations that impact their oral health.

Since every school district in the state of Pennsylvania must include a dental component, NASD is very fortunate to have a Dental Hygiene Services Program in place since 1975. Mrs. Arcury will be very busy performing the annual dental inspections throughout the district in the ten schools which include both public and non-public schools. The main focus of the program is education. So after Mrs. Arcury is done with the dental inspections, she returns to each elementary school to provide classroom education in every grade K through 6. At the secondary level, she acts as resource person in conjunction with the science and health curriculum at that level. She in invited each year to be the guest speaker for all the tenth grade health classes where she covers teenage dental issues such as oral piercing and tattoos, whitening products, wisdom teeth, and tobacco use. Every lesson stresses the importance of proper brushing and flossing as well as the relationship of healthy teeth and gums to overall health. She has partnered with the PTA’s as well as local dentists who supply toothbrushes to every elementary student.

Mrs. Arcury also participates in the district’s Health Fair and Career Day to get the word out about the importance of dental health. Thank you Mrs. Arcury for keeping the K-Kids smiles healthy and bright!!!